Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal today said that the visit of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva marks a defining moment in the relationship between India and Brazil. While addressing the Plenary Session of the India-Brazil Business Forum in New Delhi, the Minister emphasised that the relationship between the countries is built on the foundation of democracy, diversity and shared aspirations for development.
He added that this relationship is a strong, multifaceted strategic partnership driven by people-to-people ties and expanding cooperation. He highlighted that the bilateral relationship has continued to deepen in several areas like defence, energy, agriculture and agrochemicals.
Mr Goyal added that India is also expanding cooperation with Brazil in other sectors, including Health, Pharma, minerals, aviation and others. He highlighted that there has been a significant growth in collaboration in fields like Science and Technology, Digital Public Infrastructure, AI and space technology.
Referring to the growth in bilateral trade by 25 per cent in the past year to reach 15 billion US dollars, Mr Goyal described the current level as suboptimal and called for greater ambition in further strengthening economic engagement between the two countries.
The Minister also noted that both countries should aspire to grow faster and bigger, and together for the shared prosperity of both nations. He further said that as a part of its fast-advancing trade strategy, India is actively negotiating many more high-quality free trade agreements with other countries.
Mr Goyal said that India has finalised terms of reference with Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council for achieving FTAs. He expressed hope that India will launch an FTA negotiation with Canada in the near future. My Goyal lauded the FTAs achieved earlier by the country for providing unprecedented market access to Indian exporters in high-income countries. He added that these FTAs have put India at the centre of the global value chain.
